Life Sticks

Bacteria, fungi, sponges, nematodes and humans all rely on the stickiness of their cells for survival.
There is something inherent in the task of cells sticking to cells (and of cells responding to forces)
that causes common form and function to emerge across the tree of life. Bioengineering professor Adam
Engler and his colleagues highlight this idea in a paper recently published in the prestigious journal
Science.

The capacity to form complex multilayer organisms by way of cells sticking to cells is likely based,
in part, on the evolutionary advantage enjoyed by cells that can adhere to new environments. Sticky - it
seems - is good.